Improving Menstrual Hygiene in Zimbabwe’s Schools
I am a 15-year-old girl, the eldest in a family of five. Where I come from, people do not talk about pads and menstruation. It is considered taboo to discuss these issues.
Talking Frankly: Vaginas & Menstrual Hygiene
Generations have been enduring menstruation in silence and shame.
Action Time: Menstrual Hygiene Management in Uganda
In Uganda, one in every four adolescent girls who miss school do so because of menstruation-related problems.
When will Menstrual Hygiene be Taken Seriously?
In Zimbabwe, little or no proper legislation has been put in place despite considerable efforts made by pressure groups to bring the issue of menstrual hygiene before the House of the Assembly.
Menstrual Hygiene Day 2018
Around Menstrual Hygiene Day, many organizations and individuals are taking action, raising awareness and supporting campaigns and projects. Here are three examples I love:
Menstrual Hygiene Explored: Capturing the Wider Context
Written by Irise’s Guest Writer Chris Bobel, Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston This blog is part of Irise International’s #12DaysofChristmas Campaign. This summer, I bought a new camera. I needed it to snap pictures during a research trip to India where I explored diverse approaches to Menstrual Hygiene Management […]
Menstrual Hygiene Explored: Freedom
Written by Irise International Guest Blogger Chinsisi Kazuwa, Education Assistant – Theatre for a Change This blog is part of Irise International’s #12DaysofChristmas Campaign. August was a very interesting month for me at Theatre for a Change, Malawi. Participating in training more than 280 female teachers for our Tiphunzire! project was challenging, but also very […]
Menstrual Hygiene Explored: Dignity
Written by Guest Blogger Aditi Sharma, Founder and Chair of Kalyani This blog is part of Irise International’s #12DaysofChristmas Campaign. Chhaupadi – The curse of menstruation A woman died in the August floods in the far western region of Nepal this year – simply because she was menstruating. It may sound archaic and unreal but these […]
The Menstrual Hygiene Taboo: A Vicious Cycle of Silence
Written by Dr. Emily Wilson-Smith, Chair at Irise International Although half the global population has menstruated since the beginning of time, it has been a taboo topic in cultures across the world for almost as long. The word ‘taboo’ itself may even originate from a Polynesian term for menstruation, ‘tupua.’ Recent grass roots activism in […]
The Experience Of An Inexperienced Man: Looking Back on The Menstrual Hygiene Day Campaign, 2014
Written by Ephraim Kisangala World Menstrual Hygiene Day 2014 was the first of its kind and celebrated by more than one hundred organisations world over. Being a member of Friends of IRISE-KIU Western Campus (FOI), I was privileged to have learnt about this subject prior to the day. We discussed in depth the issue of […]
28 Reasons Why Menstrual Hygiene Matters
This post was previously published on Buzzfeed. Written by Elisabeth Epstein of Girls’ Globe and Danielle Keiser of WASH United. We all may know that menstruation is a natural part of the reproductive cycle, but what some may not realize is that in many developing countries, the lack of information about menstrual hygiene, as well […]
Three Innovative Approaches to Celebrating Menstrual Hygiene
Tomorrow is Menstrual Hygiene Day – a day to celebrate menstruation and to address the challenges that women and girls around the world face every month. Many live without ways to safely and effectively manage their periods; instead, they live with taboo, stigma and silence. The good news is that there are people all over […]
